‘Won’t be kept in jails a day extra than required’
Cong should worry about people, not politicians
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Dec 10: Union Home Minister Amit Shah said today that political leaders in the Kashmir valley will not be kept in jails even for a day more than required but maintained that it was the local administration which will take call on their release when the situation becomes conducive for that and the Central Government will not interfere in the matter.
He reminded the Congress Party Leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Choudhary that it was the Congress which had kept National Conference president Dr Farooq Abdullah’s father, Sheikh Abdullah in the jail for 11 years when Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister.
Shah was responding to Choudhary’s query in the Lok Sabha on normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir and detention of political leaders.
“We don’t want to keep them (the political leaders) a day extra in jail. When the (Jammu and Kashmir) administration thinks its right time, political leaders will be released. Farooq’s father Sheikh Abdullah was kept in jail for 11 years by the Congress but we don’t want to follow them. As soon as the administration thinks the situation is conducive (for release of the political leaders), they will be released,” Shah said.
He made it clear that the Government won’t interfere in working of the administration which was their (the Congress) culture.
The Home Minister said the Congress should worry about the people of Kashmir and not the political leaders. “If the Congress does so we will think they are concerned about the people of the Valley”.
He said all leaders should be concerned about political leaders in the Valley and he is also concerned but if leaders are more worried about the people of Kashmir it will send a good message.
“Adhir Ranjan has stated that situation in the Kashmir valley will be considered normal only if political activity resumes there. I want to tell him that Panchayat elections were held in Jammu and Kashmir which hadn’t been held for years together and 40,000 Panchayat members were elected. The Block Development Council (BDC) elections were held peacefully with 95 percent polling. Isn’t it the political activity”?, Shah asked.
He said there was no curfew or restrictions under Section 144 in any of the police stations in Kashmir.
“There was traffic rush in Kashmir. 99.5 per cent students appeared for examinations in Kashmir but for Adhir Ranjan this is not normalcy. Seven lakh people have availed OPD services in Srinagar. Restrictions have been removed from everywhere. But for Adhir Ji, only parameter for normalcy is political activity,” Shah said.
He said situation in the Kashmir valley is completely normal but he can’t make Congress condition normal because they had predicted bloodshed but not a single bullet was fired and no killing took place after revocation of Article 370 on August 5.
Earlier, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy, responding to a supplementary question by Sridhar Kotagiri, said stone pelting incidents have decreased substantially in 2019.
“Certain persons including stone pelters, Over Ground Workers (OGWs) and separatists were taken into preventive custody under statutory provisions by the concerned Magistrates and such preventive detentions are being regularly reviewed by relevant statutory authorities,” Reddy said.
He added that in 2018, 802 such incidents were reported, which reduced to 544 in 2019, while only 190 stone pelting incidents were reported since August 5.
Reddy informed the Lok Sabha that as many as 84 infiltration attempts were made along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir and 59 terrorists could have entered the Valley since August 2019.
He said regular attempts of infiltration by terrorists through the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir sponsored and supported from across the border are being made.
“Eighty four such attempts have been made from across the border and it is estimated that 59 such terrorists could have infiltrated,” he said.
As many as 22,557 militants have been neutralized in incidents of terrorist violence by security forces till December 1 this year, 1011 terrorists killed, 42 apprehended and 2253 pushed back from 2005 till October 21, 2019 due to efficient vigil of security forces, he said.
Infiltration attempts are part of proxy war agenda of adversary to replenish the depleted terrorist strength in the Valley to achieve its intention to ratchet up violence in Jammu and Kashmir, Reddy said.
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